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GLEANINGS IN BEE CtJLTtJilE. 



Ava. 



With Replies from our best Authorities on Bees. 



All queries sent in for this department should be briefly 

 stated, and free from any possible ambiguity. The question 

 or questions should be written upon a separate slip of paper, 

 and marked, " For Our Question-Box." 



Question No. 70.— /k there any way to make a 

 swarm artificially, and have itjitxt as Qood as the nat- 

 ural swarm, for the production of honey 1 If so, how 

 can it be done? 



I think not. 



I think not. 



I don't know of any. 



Not any that 1 know of. 



R. Wilkin. 



James A. Green. 



A. B. Mason. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Yes. Shake or drum the bees out into a new hive 

 on the old stand. H. R. Boardman. 



Hardly. On some things, man can beat nature; 

 and then, again, on some he can't. 



Mrs. L. Harrison. 



We make all our new swarms artificially, and 

 think they are just as good for any purpose as nat- 

 ural swarms. E. France. 



Yes. The method should vary in ditterent loca- 

 tions. Much will di'pend upon the sources of honey, 

 and the duration of the flow of the same. 



L. C. Root. 



No, I don't believe there is; but in many cases 

 artificial increase may be so done as to increase the 

 production of honey by the apiary as a whole. 



O. O. Poppleton. 



This would be too long to answer; but we know 

 that an artificial swarm may be made as good as 

 the best natural swarm, and even better, if desired. 



Dadant & Son. 



Yes, considering the usefulness of the old stock 

 from which both are to come. This department is 

 not large enough for such an answer as 1 should 

 like to make. James Heddon. 



I think a natural swarm more ambitious at first. 

 An artificial swarm given the same quantity of old 

 bees, and the same conditions as near as may be, 

 will do equally well after a few days. 



Geo. Grimm. 



I think just as good. Build up nuclei. If one 

 can attend to it, the swarming method, having 

 queens' wings clipped, is much the cheapest and 

 best. But I have had most excellent artificial 

 swarms. A. J. Cook. 



Size being equal, the natural swarm is better; 

 but there are other methods of managing an apia- 

 ry in which there is less increase, less work, and 

 more honey than by allowing them to double by 

 natural swarming. P. H. Elwood. 



Probably not. I think, however, that the advan- 

 tage of the natural swarm is mainly during the 

 first few weeks of its existence. 1 think, also, that 

 a full colony made likoaDoolittle nucleus would be 

 nearly as good as a swarm. E. E. Hasty. 



Take frames of hatching and nearly hatching 

 bees with adhering bees from several strong colo- 

 nies, taking 10 such frames— that is, let 2 be full of 

 honey; introduce a queen 48 hours after. If you 

 do this at swarming time you will have a good 

 working colony, as then there is no trouble to find 

 full frames of hatching brood. 



Paul L. Viallon. 



It is claimed that a newly hived natural swarm 

 works with a vim that no other equals. I don't 

 know whether there's any thing in it. I should ex- 

 pect about the same result from a colony made by 

 shaking off the queen and half the bees into an 

 empty hive placed on the old stand. 



C. C. Miller. 



Artificial swarms can be made better than natu- 

 ral swarms, because they can be made in due time; 

 i. e., long enough before the flow of honey in order 

 to have enough old bees to make use of the honey- 

 flow, or late enough so that other colonies need not 

 be deprived of their worker force during the flow. 

 A good natural swarm is a good swarm only at the 

 expense of the parent colony which is deserted by 

 its foragers, and no good for the following 10 or 14 

 days. Chas. F. Muth. 



Many of the answers seem to indicate 

 tliat the question should have been put dif- 

 ferently — something like this, for instance : 

 Will as much honey be secured from both 

 swarm and old stock, where swarmed ar- 

 tificially, as when they are swarmed uat- 

 uiallyV and I will try to give ray answer to 

 the question as above. Although a new 

 swarm will start out with more vim than 

 any artificial swarm I have ever seen, not- 

 withstanding I do think an artificial swarm, 

 made with sufficient wisdom and discretion, 

 will in the end secure just as much honey 

 — or, rather, the swarm and parent stock 

 together will secure just as much honey. 

 You will remember that Langstroth, in his 

 book, tells us that natural swarming is 

 wasteful— that is, so far as rearing bees is 

 concerned ; but having a laying queen 

 ready to give the parent stock as soon as the 

 swarm issues, enough bees may be raised to 

 produce still another swarm, over and above 

 what would have been raised if nature were 

 allowed to take its course. I believe this 

 does not seem to work always in practice ; 

 yet I do believe we can often improve on 

 nature in this matter of making increase. 

 If the increase is of no use, however, owing 

 to time, locality, etc., then natural swarm- 

 ing would be ahead. My experience is that 

 it does not as a rule pay to make artificial 

 colonies much before the bees begin to 

 swarm naturally. Another thing, so few 

 have the wisdom and experience necessary 

 to make artificial swarms judiciously, that 

 we might almost set it down as a rule that 

 most bee-keepers will make more honey to 

 let the bees swarm naturally ; and if they do 

 not swarm at all, so much the better, pro- 

 viding they have at all times ample facilities 

 for storage. 



Question No. 71.— TI7iaf kind ofahee-hat do you 

 use? Do you consider a light-weight summer hat as 

 cool fl.s a light-colored felt hat, either stiff or soft? 



One of light green wire, with pasteboard crown. 

 Mrs. L. Harrison. 



Straw, with veil sewed on the rim; light-weight 

 straw hat. Dadant & Son. 



I use a straw hat, and know it is cooler than a 

 felt hat. P. H. Elwood. 



I wear a straw hat In summer time as the most 

 comfortable for me. Chas. F. Muth. 



I prefer a light stiff felt hat with a loose veil (not 

 attached to the hat). H. R. BoakdmaN. 



